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Born out of a cramped one bedroom apartment in central Austin, with nothing but music from the oddest things in mind for rhythm. A plastic cooler from a parents' college years, rusty silverware, glass cups, and an empty goldfish carton were used in just one of these tracks. Beautifully simple guitar riffs, swooning vocals, and romantically punctuated trumpet parts make this one great EP. 'That said, here's what I saw last night and got excited about. Cloudcraft. No genre. Soulful, atmospheric, moody and even a little bit of heart stirring warmth. They started with a 60's soul cover that I didn't know but made me want to dance. I've forgotten what Amber O has secreted away in her mouth and throat, you don't hear it in conversation, but when she starts to sing, she has pipes, like chrome and brass, a church organ and a motorcycle exhaust and she thrusts it out in front of the layers of sound created by the rest of the band--trumpet, I don't know what to call them but guitar textures, box drum, and the haunting clarinet that hides and lurks beneath all of the sound, tying everything together like the catalyst for a goo that sucks you in, that won't let you go from it's warmth and sound. But the thing that rides above it all is Amber's voice. They prop her up on this thing of oozing music beneath. After the first upbeat song the band switched to a much more down tempo, moody sound. These were the songs that they were writing themselves, this was their sound. I wanted to say that I liked the cover more, because it was exciting, because it made me want to dance, but I couldn't unravel myself from the moods of sounds. It was just on the edge of some real emotional sophistication. Because that's what music can be--a f***ing screwdriver in the throttle of feelings; a snare for dragging in the direction of emotion that the musician wants to go--a tool for manipulating the subjective experiences of a group of people. I couldn't say that I didn't like their sound more than their cover, because the mood that they created, the masthead of amber's voice, almost took me like they knew exactly where to go. They were on the cusp of success at the thing that live music once remembered it was supposed to create--an experience. Watching them play made me wonder what a band is again. This was thoughtful music, and it was hard to fight off that feeling that I was there, that I was present and participating and inside of something that was happening, that was real, and that would make me feel real a hundred years from now. But I had to fight it off because that would be exposing myself to too much vulnerability, to too much of the tested and true possibility of the failure of the Good Thing. Let's hope though. Let's hold our breath wait for that honey music song to soothe the calluses off our damaged and disappointed ears.' -Cameron Ball http://cxaszim.blogspot.com/2009/07/regretful-review.html.

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Born out of a cramped one bedroom apartment in central Austin, with nothing but music from the oddest things in mind for rhythm. A plastic cooler from a parents' college years, rusty silverware, glass cups, and an empty goldfish carton were used in just one of these tracks. Beautifully simple guitar riffs, swooning vocals, and romantically punctuated trumpet parts make this one great EP. 'That said, here's what I saw last night and got excited about. Cloudcraft. No genre. Soulful, atmospheric, moody and even a little bit of heart stirring warmth. They started with a 60's soul cover that I didn't know but made me want to dance. I've forgotten what Amber O has secreted away in her mouth and throat, you don't hear it in conversation, but when she starts to sing, she has pipes, like chrome and brass, a church organ and a motorcycle exhaust and she thrusts it out in front of the layers of sound created by the rest of the band--trumpet, I don't know what to call them but guitar textures, box drum, and the haunting clarinet that hides and lurks beneath all of the sound, tying everything together like the catalyst for a goo that sucks you in, that won't let you go from it's warmth and sound. But the thing that rides above it all is Amber's voice. They prop her up on this thing of oozing music beneath. After the first upbeat song the band switched to a much more down tempo, moody sound. These were the songs that they were writing themselves, this was their sound. I wanted to say that I liked the cover more, because it was exciting, because it made me want to dance, but I couldn't unravel myself from the moods of sounds. It was just on the edge of some real emotional sophistication. Because that's what music can be--a f***ing screwdriver in the throttle of feelings; a snare for dragging in the direction of emotion that the musician wants to go--a tool for manipulating the subjective experiences of a group of people. I couldn't say that I didn't like their sound more than their cover, because the mood that they created, the masthead of amber's voice, almost took me like they knew exactly where to go. They were on the cusp of success at the thing that live music once remembered it was supposed to create--an experience. Watching them play made me wonder what a band is again. This was thoughtful music, and it was hard to fight off that feeling that I was there, that I was present and participating and inside of something that was happening, that was real, and that would make me feel real a hundred years from now. But I had to fight it off because that would be exposing myself to too much vulnerability, to too much of the tested and true possibility of the failure of the Good Thing. Let's hope though. Let's hold our breath wait for that honey music song to soothe the calluses off our damaged and disappointed ears.' -Cameron Ball http://cxaszim.blogspot.com/2009/07/regretful-review.html.